Toy gyro saucer



y 1956 w. J. DOYLE 2,747,326

TOY GYRO SAUCER Filed Aug. 2, 1954 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent TOY GYRO SAUCER William J. Doyle, Bay Village, Ohio Application August 2, 1954, Serial No. 447,077 2 Claims. (Cl. 46-50) This invention relates to toy tops.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a toy top embodying the principle of the gyroscope and the shape of a current object of interest, namely the flying saucer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a toy gyro saucer which will prove entertaining to children, both due to its appearance and mode of operation.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a toy gyro saucer which is simple to assemble, providing additional interest in the form of a kit similar to those provided for model airplanes.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a toy gyro saucer bearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of parts, is easy to use and entertaining in operation.

For other objects and a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view showing the toy in operative use;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view thereof taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, and showing the manner of spinning the central shaft and wheel to impart stability;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the manner in which the ends of the bottom spring element are secured to the sides of the saucer; and

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the interior wheel, its shaft and bearings.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, the device comprises a wheel having an enlarged periphery 10, a central hub 11, and a spider or web 12 extending from the hub to the enlarged periphery. Extending centrally through the hub 11 is a central shaft 13, the shaft 13 being fixed to hub 11 and terminating in the points 14 and 15 and being provided with an opening 16 therethrough adjacent the point 15 for a purpose which will hereinafter become clear.

The outer shell comprises a hollow hemispherical shell 17 integrally formed around its lower open edge with a laterally extending circular flange 18 and at its top with a point 19, the shell 17, flange 18 and point 19 being provided with suitable markings (Fig. 1) simulating the appearance of a flying saucer.

The shell 17 directly below point 19 on the interior thereof is provided with a conical recess 20 within which fits a conical bearing member 21 formed around its lower open edge with a flange 22 which is received within a circular groove 23 provided in the shell and surrounding the conical opening 20 (Fig. 2).

As shown in Fig. 3, the inside of shell 17 at its oppositely disposed points and adjacent the open lower edge thereof is provided with the dovetailed grooves 24 which retain therewithin the correspondingly shaped ends 25 of a steel strap 26 when the latter is disposed in the semi- 2 ,747,326 Pgatented May 29, 1956 circular arrangement of Fig. 2. Thus, the strap 26 will be resiliently retained within the grooves 24 and will form a base for the toy, while at the same time, it may be easily and readily removed by snapping the ends 25 thereof out of the dovetail s'haped'grooves 24. A bi furcated member 27 is integrally formed with an ex ternally threaded shank 28 screw threaded into the central portion of strap 26 directly below the bearing member 21, the upper end of the shank 28 being provided with a conical groove 29, which rotatably receives therewithin the point 15 when the point 14 is rotatably received within the bearing member 21, whereby to rotatably mount the wheel within the shank in the manner shown.

A pulley 30 is rotatably mounted between the sides of the bifurcated member 27 by means of a pin 31, the pulley 30 being adapted to ride a taut string 32 secured at opposite ends to the posts 33 and 34.

In operation, a string 33 has one end thereof passed through the opening 16 and is then wound around the shaft 13, the other end of the string extending outwardly of the top and being grasped between the fingers of one hand (Fig. 2), while the shell 17 is held in the other hand. The string 32 is then drawn quickly outwardly to spin the wheel 10 and shaft 13 within the shell, providing stability to the toy by a gyroscopic action while the pulley 30 rests upon the taut string 32 and permitting the toy to move across the taut string 32 in a novel and realistic manner simulating the appearance of a flying saucer.

It will be noted that the toy may be easily and readily assembled by placing the shaft 13 within the bearing member 21 when the latter is disposed within the conical groove 20 of shell 17 and then snapping the strap 26 into position with the point 15 received within the conical groove 29 of the externally threaded shank 28, permitting the parts of the toy to be provided in a convenient kit and to be assembled by the child without difliculty and in an educational manner.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be Within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A toy gyro saucer comprising a central shaft, 9. wheel mounted thereon, an upper, hollow, substantially hemispherical shell, a separable resilient strap member having enlarged, substantially dove-tail shaped ends, the inside of said shell at oppositely disposed portions at the lower open end thereof having substantially dove-tail shaped grooves into which the ends of said strap are snapped, said shaft at opposite ends thereof being pointed, a hollow, substantially conical shaped bearing member mounted within the top of said hemispherical shell and rotatably mounting the upper pointed end of said central shaft, the yoke-shaped member integrally formed with an externally threaded shank screwthreaded into the central portion of said strap and extending upwardly therethrough, the upper end of said shank being provided with a substantially conical recess rotatably mounting the lower pointed end of said shaft, a pulley intermediate the sides of said yoke-shaped member, and a pin piercing said yoke-shaped member and rotatably mounting said pulley therebetween, said shaft near the lower pointed end thereof having an opening therethrough receiving one end of the string wound around said shaft and extending outwardly below said hemispherical shell whereby to spin said wheel upon pulling said string outwardly when said shell is held stationary.

2. A'toy gyro'saucerwtceording'to'claim '1, said"hemi- Referencesfiitedinthe'fileofthispatent spherical shell around the lower open edge thereof being UNITED STATES PATENTS integrally formed at :right angles thereto with an out- 1 7 1 wardly extending Circular fiange, -saiid she'll being further 2 9 Lmn June 1872 484,960 Hardy Oct. 25, 1892 provided with an upwardly extending polnt mounted at o 9 4 0 b 7 the t p thereof; said flange and shell on the outside 2 5 23 i g thereo fbeing marked with indiciafdescriptive of flying emome 3 saucers I I 2,493,834 Sanders et a1. Jan. 10, 1950 

